Moe: most-injured Stooge?

[snopes]

Comment: I read somewhere years back that although Moe of the Three
Stooges was the one who appeared on film to be dishing out the most
punishment, in reality, he was the one who received the most injuries.

If you can uncover any documents pertaining to this subject, I think that
your readers would attain an eye-popping level of interest.

[RealityChuck]

Do you mean in the films or in real life?

Moe did tend to get beat up a lot because there were two against one, and may have gotten the worst of it more than the others.

For real, Moe's slaps didn't hurt the recipient at all. He had a way of letting his hand flop loose so that you barely felt it. The eye pokes went nowhere near the eyes, usually touching the forehead or not touching the face at all. Sound effects made it seem like there was contact.

[Roadsterboy]

I forget which short it is, but there is at least one instance where Moe sustained pretty serious injuries in a stunt.

He was standing on a table, changing a lightbulb or something, and Curly was using a circular saw to cut a piece of wood. Naturally he saws through the table and Moe falls down. He slowly gets up, dusts himself off, puts his hands on his hips, and says "Well!" at which point there's an obvious edit going into the next scene.

What happened was, Moe busted a couple of ribs in the fall and collapsed as soon as he said "Well!".

Supposedly, Larry had a callous on his face from being slapped so much.

-Roadster"NyukNyukNyuk!"boy

[diddy]

Originally Posted by RealityChuck

The eye pokes went nowhere near the eyes, usually touching the forehead or not touching the face at all. Sound effects made it seem like there was contact.

In fact the stooges did a film detailing the trick behind the eye-poke becasue kids were supposedly doing it for real. The poke actually hit the eyebrows so it would look real. Sound effects took over.

[Ali Infree]

There was a TV movie about the Stooges and Michael Chiklis (from The Shield) played Curly. [BTW, he is a very good actor!]
If I remember correctly the movie blamed Curly's early death on repeated concussions from blows on his head. I googled some information that seemed to confirm this.

I think in those days these vaudeville performers did most of their own stunt work using the tricks and timing of their stage experience. I would not be surprised to hear that Moe was often hurt as well. He just managed, along with Larry Fines, to live to an old age.

Ali "Don't get me started on Curly Joe" Infree

[A Turtle Named Mack]

Earworm alert!!!!


All together now, let's do the Curly Shuffle!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKAfXdb5LsA

[Roadsterboy]

Originally Posted by Ali Infree

There was a TV movie about the Stooges and Michael Chiklis (from The Shield) played Curly. [BTW, he is a very good actor!]
If I remember correctly the movie blamed Curly's early death on repeated concussions from blows on his head.

Curly died of a stroke. He'd had high blood pressure for years, and he was a very, shall we say, party hearty sort of person-staying out late, overindulging in food and drink, and so on. Ironically, some of this behaviour was brought about by his distinctive shaved head. When he originally tried out for the "third Stooge" part (this was before the Columbia shorts, when the boys were still working with Ted Healy, and Shemp had left to pursue a film career), Curly had a luxurious mustache and long hair, and was turned down- he didn't look weird enough compared to Moe and Larry. So he went out, shaved his mustache and his head, and returned-getting the part. However, Curly felt that this new look hurt his chances with the ladies (even though he was quite successful with them), so he acted up and was always partying, to the detriment of his health. Several shorts were filmed after his first stroke, and it's an obviously diminished Curly we see-and Larry gets most of the slaps and eye pokes.

After the stroke that finally ended his career as a full time Stooge, Curly reappeared in Hold That Lion!, as a sleeping train passenger that Moe, Larry, and Shemp are searching for. It is the only time Moe, Larry, Shemp, and Curly appear on film together, and the only time Curly appears with a full head of hair. Supposedly, he was also slated to appear in Malice In The Palace (a lobby card photo features a burly, mustachioed chef that looks suspiciously like Curly), but was unable to do so.

-Roadster-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-boy